Cuyahoga County Executive Chris Ronayne was among the elected officials who attended a recent labor event on wages, housing and worker issues.

Service Employees International Union (SEIU) Local 1, whose members include janitors and security guards working in downtown buildings, and the Northeast Ohio Worker Center organized the March 23 event. The event was also part of an ongoing union campaign, known as One Cleveland, which has included lobbying Mayor Justin Bibb’s administration to see that lower-wage workers benefit from his Shore-to-Core-to-Shore Tax Increment Financing (TIF) District.

The TIF district, which is intended to spur development, includes downtown and portions of the Near West Side. City Council approved the plan March 25, which calls for using some of the revenue from the TIF on neighborhood projects. 

Bibb wasn’t at the Saturday forum, but members of his administration were. Several other elected officials, including Cleveland Council Members Danny Kelly, Kris Harsh, Stephanie Howse-Jones, Jenny Spencer and Rebecca Maurer, were there. State Rep. Juanita Brent also attended.

Ronayne’s support shouldn’t be surprising. He’s a pro-union Democrat and recently influenced the decision not to renew the contract of PalAmerican Security, the company that had been providing security for the Cuyahoga County Administrative Headquarters. He said that his administration ”signaled our interest in a union contractor.” The security company and the landlord of the administrative headquarters building then mutually agreed not to renew the contract, Ronayne said.

SEIU Local 1, which is attempting to organize 400 contracted security guards assigned to downtown buildings, accused PalAmerican Security of being unresponsive to its workers’ concerns and efforts to unionize. (Signal Cleveland contacted PalAmerican for comment, but the company didn’t respond.) 

“SEIU Local 1 asked us to support a more union-friendly custodial environment,” Ronayne told Signal Cleveland after the union’s event. “We worked for it. We got it. We had a change out of those serving us to those that are now SEIU-friendly.”

Current security services

St. Moritz Security Services Inc. replaced PalAmerican and has been providing security services for the county since February. Its employees working at the county building are not unionized but the company has union employees in other cities. 

SEIU Local 1 Ohio State Director and Vice President Yanela Sims told Signal Cleveland in an email that Ronayne’s support was crucial to making a change.

“He actively demonstrates his commitment to working people with his actions, not just his words,” she wrote.

The union made PalAmerican the subject of a protest outside of Playhouse Square last fall. SEIU Local 1 claimed the security services company was getting in the way of workers’ right to form a union. The union has filed unfair labor practice complaints with the National Labor Relations Board against PalAmerican. SEIU Local 1 has withdrawn two. The union said it withdrew the one involving a security guard assigned to the county after the company no longer had the contract. SEIU Local 1 said it withdrew the filing involving a security guard assigned to Playhouse Square after “the worker obtained employment elsewhere and chose not to pursue the matter.” 

Ronayne appears open to switching out other contractors that aren’t union-friendly.

“We’ve got a lot on the horizon in the county,” he said. “We’re going to be moving a lot of workers into new buildings  and renovating other spaces – several hundred square feet.  We should be walking in together with SEIU because they get the job done right. We’re supporting good, strong wages in this community when we can do it.” 

One Cleveland campaign

The union event, which was held at MAGNET in MidTown, focused on SEIU Local 1’s One Cleveland campaign. The campaign is tied to contract negotiations, primarily with the companies that provide cleaning services downtown and to other businesses and government offices throughout Greater Cleveland. The union says the plight of its janitors is similar to that of many Clevelanders, who like the janitors, are working-class. About 75% of union janitors working in downtown buildings live in Cleveland, according to the union. SEIU Local 1 put on the One Cleveland Forum with the Northeast Ohio Worker Center.

Janitors were among the speakers at the event, which had more than 120 attendees.

Demetris Hall of Cleveland said that she and her fellow janitors need a raise. Janitors currently make about $14 an hour, according to the union.

“Everything is going up, but my paycheck,” she said. 

Janitor John Gilner said some look down upon janitors because they mistakenly view their work as unimportant. He said having a clean building positively impacts everyone’s work environment.

“We need more appreciation,” he said. “We’re underappreciated because we get paid so little. If we get paid more they can’t look at us like we’re peasants.”